Category: News
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How You Can Reduce Light Pollution in PB
This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest In Our Planet” and we have some ideas here at beautifulPB on how you can invest in beautifying our community once the sun goes down—update your outdoor lighting!
Warm reflections on a peaceful Sail Bay Light pollution is often overlooked and underrated in its deleterious effects on community beauty and feel. It’s quiet, odorless and its effects are literally unseen. But light pollution has the potential to affect the beauty of our community for miles when too-bright lights are casted in the wrong area or position. However, lighting can also beautify and enhance our peaceful bay and ocean nights under the stars if it’s done correctly.
Lighting shapes the feel of a community at night. Is it warm and intimate, or harsh and industrial? Many claim they need blinding lights for security reasons, but is that the kind of community we want to live in? Is that the community you are projecting?
So what can you do to ensure your security as well as keep our community beautiful?
1. Familiarize yourself with the Kelvin color scale. Warmer lights in the 2000-3000k are pleasant and inviting, while the higher Kelvin ranges are cold and harsh.
2. Angle lights downward to avoid spillage. Light covers and shields can be used to limit the angle a light illuminates. Bulbs should always be covered by a filter that defuses the light, increasing the useful illumination and reducing glare. Naked bulbs create harsh, uninviting lighting.
3. For security, motion sensitive lights and cameras are a much better option than always-in public blights. They are a great deterrence without degrading the beauty of your neighborhood. Just be sure the motion triggers when someone is approaching, and not on every bypasser.The PB community is a beautiful place and the bay boardwalk is particularly treasured yet blotted with light pollution. Let’s make sure we are creating an inviting and welcoming space by using appropriate lighting. Make changes to your lighting and talk to your neighbors about light pollution today. Let’s all enjoy a few more stars this year.
One person can destroy a view 
Sail Bay, 3700’s block Riviera Dr. When your neighbor personally decides its daytime for us all. A sun-cannon disaster of a lighting setup. -
Garnet Greening
Abundant landscaping and healthy street trees create walkable streets for everyone to enjoy. Community volunteers have been working to improve the health of street trees on Garnet Avenue, and encourage business owners to add new landscaping to the sidewalks in front of their properties.
One of the new additions is this planter on Garnet Avenue between Ingraham and Jewel Street, near Empire Beauty. The planter is a great addition to the streetscape, but requires weekly maintenance and watering. Help is needed to keep this planter looking its best. If you’d like to volunteer for this, or other Garnet Greening projects, contact Eve Anderson.
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William and Fannie Payne Park
Thanks to the efforts of beautifulPB board members Paige Hernandez and Regina Sinsky Crosby, as well as PB students Nuhamin Woldeyes and Juliniel Woods, the joint-use park at the PB Rec Center was officially renamed in honor of William and Fannie Payne on August 5. The Paynes were leaders in San Diego’s education community, and William Payne was the first Black teacher at what was then called PB Junior High.
You can read news coverage of the park renaming here.
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Bike Repair Station
With a generous donation and help from BPB board members and volunteers, Kate Sessions Elementary School is home to a new bike repair station. Students and staff can use the tools to make quick repairs to their bikes right at school. This is a great way to encourage kids to bike to school, and increase their knowledge about basic bicycle maintenance.
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PB Counts 2021
PB Counts is an annual project of beautifulPB to collect data on travel on key streets in our community. It is the only community traffic count of its kind in San Diego county, and provides valuable information about the way people move through Pacific Beach.
About 20 volunteers counted traffic for two hours on the afternoon of August 7, tracking the number of vehicles, people on bikes, people walking, people on e-scooters, and other types of traffic (non-motorized scooters, etc.) on our streets.
This is the seventh year that the PB Counts project has taken place, allowing us to see how travel trends change over time in our community. Data from this year’s count will be available in the coming month, but you can view past years’ data on our website here. Thank you to all of our hardworking volunteers!
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Parking Meters Approved for PB
The City of San Diego recently approved the Pacific Beach Community Parking District one-year pilot parking meter program for locations in central PB. A combination of single-space and multi-space meters are planned for installation later this year. Additional information about the community parking district is available here.
The initial proposal for parking meter locations in PB. As a member of the advisory board for the parking district, beautifulPB helps guide policy decisions around meter operations, as well as how meter revenues are spent. In the first year of the pilot, most funding will be used to pay for a neighborhood electric vehicle shuttle, similar to the FRED in downtown San Diego. The shuttle will connect the Balboa Avenue transit station with destinations throughout Pacific Beach, and provide an alternative to driving for visitors and residents in the community.
